Don't leave me again
by Happymood
Summary: It's been twenty years since South Korea had disappeared. China had lost every hope of finding Yong Soo, until one day, he meets a boy who looks too much like him... Short Story. Eventually KoreaxChina
1. Chapter 1

**A.N. I've been thinking about this story for a while now but never had the time to start it. It's going to be short, maximum four chapters, I think… Please review, I need to know if you are interested in this or not. Thank you! :) **

Yao always thought that he was too old to hope that wars would end that easily. He had seen death, felt the pain in his bones, had been betrayed, had betrayed, had won and had lost so many times that the hope that this madness would end had vanished drop by drop, each tear he cried.

But, nevertheless, he curses himself that he wasn't only a nation, but a human too, and there is something inside of him, a voice, that tells him to keep hoping. Yao had even then, even if just a little, that when the news a war was starting again made his heart break.

Yao thinks once again that he is too old to believe.

Still, he hopes.

And Yao then hopes than when the war would finally end, after the pain and all the blood, that everyone would finally understand. That after some time healing, they'll be laughing together again, teasing and annoying each other, world meetings no one cared about, talking, whispering, kissing…

Yao had seen so many things that he thinks he will tolerate everything that would come to him. But he doesn't predict that.

He should but doesn't. He should have known, he tells himself. This is war after all.

South Korea is occupied. The flag burns. Death.

Im Yong Soo…

The war ends.

"We can't find him, China…"

South Korea has another flag. Another name. Another country ruling over him.

"We can't find him, China…"

And suddenly Im Yong Soo is nowhere to be found. He disappears like dust.

Yao is struggling to keep awake when the news arrive to him. His whole body is aching, he is bleeding, but he still has the strength to ask if everyone was okay. Who had won, who had lost, what did it matter? Everyone is bleeding.

"We can't find him, China…"

The war ends and South Korea is no more.

It takes Yao years to heal but in the end he does feel better, his people start to walk on their own too, the world seems to understand once more but that voice inside Yao's head doesn't speak anymore. It is trying to tell him something but Yao doesn't understand the silence.

Years and Yong Soo is nowhere to be found. China believes that he had hid somewhere, waiting for the right opportunity to claim what was his, China knows he is too strong to disappear like that. China hopes.

World Summits starts again. Everyone starts bickering again over silly things and when someone walks behind him, Yao would abruptly turn around, already ready to fight someone's hands away but there is no one there, no one dares to touch him.

"There is no one there, China-san…" Japan would say and Yao would blink at nothing, turn to look at Kiku and say:

"I know, aru…"

But Japan knows too and that what China is scared of.

Yao had seen many nations disappear and he should feel relieved, he tells himself once. For what, China doesn't know. He sits at world summits, listens to Germany, America, whoever wants to talk, and he finds himself wondering, staring right at where _he_ used to sit. But to his right is just Japan, or Taiwan, or Russia, or France, or someone else that's not _him_ and China suddenly realizes he misses Yong Soo.

"I miss him…" he whispers and China hopes but Korea doesn't appear from behind the door. China hopes but no one exclaims: "I knew you liked me, big brother!".

Years pass.

Yao suddenly decides he is too old to wait anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

The latest world meeting is held in America. China knows what they are going to talk about: about the environment, the economy and many other things none of them will find a solution to. America is still bubbly but he is more serious than before the war and welcomes China with a polite smile on his face.

China always has the impression that everyone had changed after the war, there is something that differs from before, and from the way they talk to him, from the way China talks to them, he understands he had changed a lot too. Sometimes, though, China really thinks that the one who has changed it's just him. That the only thing that has changed is the way _they _talk to him, as if they felt sympathy for him, but China's thoughts always stop there, because he doesn't want to think further than that.

China waits for America to end his speech. England says something. Belgium agrees or maybe disagrees… China isn't listening anymore. He remains silent as Germany announces they need a break. China stands up when everyone else is standing and then he leaves the building before one of his brothers can stop him and talk to him.

After twenty years China is sick and tired of the question: "Are you okay?", "How do you feel today?". He is sick and tired of telling them that he is okay, aru, he really is, and see that no one believes him. China doesn't understand them. He got over everything, he got over the war and they should too. There is no point in remembrance.

He is okay.

Why then there is always something inside of him that tells him to stop lying?

China looks at the clock on his wrist. He has fifteen minutes of freedom and with a sigh he decides to walk mindlessly around New York. It is years since China had visited the Big Apple and is more beautiful than the last time he's been there. China looks at the people and at the buildings, he stops before shops and remembers what they sold before. China loses track of time and suddenly he finds himself walking in a park. It's not long before he realizes that he doesn't know where exactly he is.

China looks at the clock again: in five minutes the meeting is going to start again. He groans and looks around him in search of a sign that could tell him where exactly he is.

China sees families together, children running around, laughing, and mothers shouting at them to play where they can see, couples walking hand in hand… If things get difficult, China can ask them the way to the Central Building, there was no need to panic.

China suddenly hears water splashing and he turns to look at the fountain in the middle of the park. There are kids there: a little boy splashes water in his sister's face, making her scream in disgust. The boy laughs and suddenly he slips and falls into the fountain. The girl screams again, this time in terror, and China suddenly runs to help the little boy out, but someone else beats him to it.

And that is where the world seems to stop.

China watches terrified as a tall, Asian, man with short raven hair shots up from the bench he was sitting on and pulls the boy out from the water. China's eyes widen, because he never thought he would see that face anymore, and is just so unexpected that China thinks he must be dreaming.

There is no way.

His eyes are making a fool out of him…

China starts to walk over the two of them as if in trance. His eyes don't seem to leave the tall man's face. It is as if there is no one else there…

"I am dreaming…" China thinks and the sound of the boy coughing shakes him out of his stupor.

The little boy coughs out water and the man pats him on the back, helping him regain his breath. The mother is there in an instant and pulls her son from the man's arms.

"Oh, my god! Thank you, sir! Thank you!" she exclaims. The man just smiles sheepishly and that makes China understand that he really is mistaken.

Because Yong Soo had never smiled like that...

"It… it was nothing…" the man says, in perfect English. China stops. The man says something more to the woman, pats the shivering boy on the head and turns to leave. The man faces China is and China stops breathing.

The man looks up and his eyes met Yao's ones.

China doesn't believe in coincidences.

But this time he knows that this is nothing but a coincidence.

Yet he starts to move towards the man again while the other remains perfectly still, his eyes lost into Yao's ones.

A second later China is standing before him. The resemblance is astounding but China knows it's not him. Yet he whispers:

"Yong Soo…?"

The man blinks, tilts his head (like he used to do, China thinks) and then smiles again embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, I can't speak Chinese!" he says. It's not him. China shakes his head, the man tilts his head once more.

"I thought you were someone else…" China says in English. "I'm sorry, aru." and turns to go. What a fool, China thinks, he just lost time in daydreaming.

"Oh!" the man laughs, "I've got a really common face!". China doesn't know if the man is making fun of him or if he is serious, either way he starts to get on his nerves and Yao starts walking faster away from that stranger. Then he remembers that he doesn't know where he is and stops.

"Why everything happens to me, aru!" he sighs and once again he tries searching for a sign whatsoever. The man is still behind him and China hears him approaching him. He doesn't turn around to look at him again.

He doesn't think he will bear the disillusionment again.

"Are you lost, sir?" the man says and China knows he should laugh at the use of 'sir' with that voice, but it makes him want to cry more. China remains still, hoping that if he is rude enough, that man will leave him alone. It doesn't work and instead the man bends a little to look better at China's face.

"May I help you?" the man asks again and China looks back at that face, cursing himself a moment later. "My name is Andrew!" the man smiles a toothy smile at him. China blinks at the name, he really expected him to be called something else. He doesn't respond.

"Are you a tourist?" the man pries again, "Are you lost?"

China blinks at the man, then at the clock on his wrist. He is already late and if he starts looking for a way back on his own, he will attend the meeting a second before it's over. China decides to accept the offer of being helped.

Because he needed the help, not because…

"I'm searching for the Central Building, aru…" China says then and Andrew suddenly smiles again.

"The Central Building?" Andrew repeated. "It's not far! Come with me!", the man seems enthusiastic to help and China wonders how old was the man really, because he really acted too much like a child. Andrew starts walking and China sighs as he has no other option than to follow him.

As they walk, Andrew doesn't stop talking: "The Central Building, huh? You must be a politician or something. An ambassador? No. A secretary? No? Oh! I never met an ambassador before. I'm from here and not once have I met a politician! Are you from China? Must be, judging by what you said before, but you don't talk much, do you? Maybe you are a secret agent and can't tell me more than I should know…"

"You watch too many movies…" China suddenly says and Andrew suddenly stops and turns to look at him. Once again China is looking in the other man's eyes and the fact is making his heart unreasonably stop.

"So you do talk!" Andrew grins, "I've never helped an ambassador before! It's fun!" he repeats and suddenly points to the building behind him. China recognizes it immediately and dreads for a moment what Germany will say about his lateness.

"Thank you…" China says but he doesn't move. It's like his legs can go further than that and he knows it's not because of Germany.

"What's your name?" Andrew suddenly asks. China looks back at Andrew.

"Yao… Wang Yao…" he gulps. Andrew nods in understanding.

"Are you going to stay in the country long?" Andrew asks then. The boy is too much rude for China's tastes and he wonders for a moment if he should just thank and walk back to the meeting. But then he was going to be rude too and China doesn't like to be the same as Andrew. He decides then he should answer, the truth is that he was going to leave for home tomorrow morning, but the more he looks at Andrew, the more the words can't leave his mouth, and it's stupid because he is just a boy he met in a park, who looks a lot like him, but it's not, and it's stupid to even think of staying here just because the voice is the same and…

"Actually, I'm going to stay here for a while, aru…" China says and he is surprised by himself. His heart starts beating when Yo— no, his name is Andrew, Andrew smiles at him.

"Great!" Andrew says. "So, it's probable we will meet again!"

China tells himself he is stupid. Andrew is just a man like everyone else. He is not a nation. He is not Yong Soo. Because Yong Soo died long ago. He has raven hair, but he doesn't have the curl, he has the same voice, but not the same speech pattern, he has the same eyes…

But they show no affection. Just interest.

It's too plain.

China nods at Andrew and abruptly walks away back into the Central Building.

He is late and China notes the curious looks they are giving him. He says nothing, just sits down beside Japan, and talks about his own new ideas for the World Economy.

The next day everyone is surprised that China wants to stay another week with America. China just shrugs at the questions, that he needed some kind of vacations anyway. His boss calls him, angry at him for wasting their money like that, China just leaves the phone on and ignores his boss shouts from the other line.

China doesn't know where or if he is going to meet Andrew again and when he is out of the hotel he is staying, he thinks that he had finally lost it. China had asked America the park's name and after he got his answer, he decided to take a walk there.

He ignores the way his stomach churns when he sees the fountain from afar and ignores the fact he fells disappointed of not seeing Andrew.

Suddenly he feels a hand on his shoulder and he turns around alarmed, ready to punch the offender away.

"Hey! Hey!" a voice laughs. "It's just me!"

China calms down and looks up at Andrew, who is laughing. China smiles a little but becomes serious immediately after. When Andrew stops laughing, Andrew says:

"I hoped to see you here again…"

China doesn't speak.

"So… are you hungry?" Andrew asks.

"Yes and I'm not going to eat anything American…" China said to which Andrew laughs. Even the laugh...

China wonders if he made a mistake in staying.


	3. Chapter 3

Yong Soo is shouting something at him. China can't hear what he says in the middle of the busy street, as people walk around them, sometimes hiding South Korea from his sight.

But somehow China knows it's not that he can't hear, he just doesn't want to. South Korea shouts at him as tears slowly appear at the corners of his eyes and China does nothing but stare at him. Stare at those tears, a little taken aback. China watches carefully the words forming on the other's mouth and suddenly the ground shakes and the sky turns red and then there are bombs and….

China wakes up.

He is shaking and immediately stands in a sitting position, blinking at the darkness around him, almost expecting to see the ruins surround him. Everything is silent and the only noises are the cars outside. Yao rubs his eyes. His heart is still beating quickly inside his chest.

It was just a dream.

A dream that had happened twenty years before.

It's the last day he saw Yong Soo. Yao remembers it all too perfectly. They were in Seoul, Yong Soo had just found out which side China was going to fight for and China had done nothing but turn around and leave Yong Soo alone.

Yao will never forget the last things Yong Soo told him.

Yao had always hoped he would make up to Yong Soo later, when the war would be finally over.

Yao never did.

: : :

Maybe that is why Yao meets Andrew every day.

"So, how old are you, really?", Andrew asks him one day, as they walk aimlessly around. Yao stares at Andrew and rolls his eyes.

"Why, aru?"

"You seem really young!" Andrew says, "But you act like you have arthritis…"

"I don't…!" Yao shouts, calms down, sighs: "You are insufferable, aru…"

"So, how old are you?" Andrew asks again, grinning now. His eyes are curious, Yao hates that look.

"Twen—…" he stops, "Twenty-five…" Yao says then. Andrew laughs.

"You are older than me?" Andrew is sincerely shocked, "That's no fun!"

"What did you expect? You act like a baby, aru!" Yao exclaims.

"I'm twenty…" Andrew says, pouting a little.

"Twenty?"

"Yeah…" Andrew smirks, "I do look older, huh?", he strikes a pose. Yao shakes his head.

"No…" Yao says. "No, that's not it…"

"Denial!" Andrew says and before Yao can kick him, he laughs and says: "Do you like spicy food?"

: : : :

"I feel like I had already met you…" Andrew says as Yao gulps down his tenth glass of water. Yao puts down the glass then stares at Andrew who had already finished his plate.

"That's impossible." Yao stats, raising a black eyebrow, "I would remember you, aru…"

"That day in the park…" Andrew continues, "You really looked familiar, like I already knew you…"

"I just have a common face…" Yao says and eats another bite of spicy food. Andrew smiles.

"Like I do?"

"Yes, exactly, aru."

: : :

Andrew decides to accompany Yao back to the hotel. It's already dark and Andrew declares Yao should be accompanied by someone who can protect him. Yao says that he can defend himself very well, thank you, but Andrew insists and so they walk side by side, so slowly, the moon is already up in the sky when they arrive.

Suddenly Andrew says:

"What's that?"

Yao looks around and tilts his head to when Andrew is pointing. It's just the South Korean flag: a red and blue taegeuk, surrounded by four black trigrams on white background.

It's five years some people fight to bring South Korea back. Yao looks at these people with distaste, because he knows South Korea is dead and will never come back, they live on an impossible dream and they are all words but no acts. Their symbol it's the old flag. Their motto is to free the country from the impostors. Yao explains Andrew everything he can tell, but the boy just stares at the symbol with confused eyes.

"South Korea?"

"Ah, yeah… I forgot you were young, aru…" Yao says, "You weren't born when the War was at its peak. They call it…" Yao says South Korea's new name and Andrew ooh-s in recognition.

"Oh, I get it…" he says, "My parents were from there…"

"Your parents, aru?" Yao doesn't really listen, just stares at the flag for a while more, before he drags Andrew so they can continue walking.

"My real parents. I was adopted…" Andrew explains, taking Yao's hand, but they are already before the hotel and Yao untangles his fingers from Andrew's, bids him goodnight and disappears inside.

: : : :

Yao sees Andrew every day. Andrew shows him around the city until Yao too knows it like the back of his hand. Andrew is always smiling, always saying something that Yao would find stupid (but funny) and always waiting for him outside his hotel.

Yao doesn't know how thing gotten like that. Why Andrew becomes so important.

He ignores all his boss's calls. He ignores America's looks.

He ignores the voice in his head that says that everything is wrong, that he should listen more…

: : : :

_"You want me dead, don't you? You always hated me! You never cared about me! I did everything for you! I loved you! Why did you betray me? You always wanted me dead! You always wanted me out of your way! Are you happy now? Are you?" _


	4. Chapter 4

"…the attack happened at exactly ten o'clock yesterday night in the capital city. At least four people of the Government are reported to be missing..." the radio says. Yao listens to it, absentmindedly, vaguely thinking about the Organization behind these attacks in the capital of ex-South Korea and what they want to achieve.

Yao is quite cynic about it and then wonders since when he has became so pessimistic. He doesn't have the time to think more of it, though, as someone starts knocking on his hotel's room's door.

"… a letter, signed with the flag of South Korea, threaded to kill them if they don't reconsider…" the radio continues to say. Yao walked to it and switches it off before answering the door. He is surprised to see America standing on the other side and so Yao opens the door more widely and smiles at the other nation.

"Good morning, aru!" Yao says. America smiles back at him but soon he is serious again.

"I…" America is unsure, a rare fact, and Yao watches him make his way into his room, worried about what America wants to tell him. America sits down on China's bed then he stands up again and after a sigh he says:

"I saw the real reason why you want to stay here." America is straight to the point and Yao understands immediately what America wants to say and closes the door behind them.

"It's not as you think…" Yao says, suddenly on the defensive. America sighs again. "He is just a guy I happened to meet, aru. Nothing serious!"

"Yao…" America says and puts a hand on the other's shoulder, "You spend all your day with him and the resemblance is terrible!" he exclaims. Yao looks down and then he looks back up at America, angry at him.

"Are you spying on me?" Yao exclaims and slaps America's hand away. America is suddenly guilty, Yao can see it in the other's eyes, but then America is stern again.

"Yao, he is not Yong Soo!" America almost shouts.

"I know he is not Yong Soo, aru!" Yao shouts then he calms himself, "Stop sticking your nose in other's business! This is what got you the first time, aru!" and then opens the door again and waits for America to get the point across.

America is sighing again but doesn't move.

"I don't want you to be hurt, Yao…" he says. "I know you miss him but that guy is not him. He is never going to be him…" and with that he walks out the door.

"I know, Alfred…" Yao whispers and walks out the door himself. Andrew was waiting for him, after all.

: : : : :

"I feel so good today!" Andrew says, stretching out and staring up at the sky above them. "I feel like I can hold the whole world in my hands!"

"That is ridiculous, aru…" Yao says, still put out by the argument he had with America. Andrew looks at him and lies on the soft grass, pulling Yao down with him. Yao yelps a little in surprise and then almost hits Andrew when the other tries to put his arms around his chest.

Andrew just laughs and slowly Yao relaxes too in the other's arms. It must look strange, Yao thinks, but in that moment he doesn't want to move away.

"Have you never felt as powerful as this, Yao?" Andrew suddenly asks, a soft whisper in Yao's ears. Yao feels Andrew's hands on his chest and he wants to slap them away but he feels that is their right place to be it's on his chest.

"Yes, aru…" Yao says, "But it never lasts…"

"Since when have you become so pessimistic?" Andrew suddenly asks and Yao abruptly turns to look at Andrew, who just looks up at the clouds above. Yao can't read the emotion on the other's face and he gives up at the third try. He decides to study Andrew's features instead, the curve of his nose and chin, the color of his eyes and the way his lips constantly curve up just a little…

It's a face he has already seen but never this close. Yao had never been so attentive. Suddenly Andrew turns and looks straight at him and Yao feels his breath hitch, as if caught doing something illegal.

And then, suddenly, he feels guilty. It happens every time Andrew looks at him with those eyes… why?

Yao looks away and then searches for something to say, anything to break the silence, when suddenly he remembers:

"You said you were adopted, aru…"

That seems to push Andrew out of his thoughts and he grins at Yao.

"Yeah!" he says, "My adoptive parents fought in the War, twenty years ago", he explains, "They in the same squad in…" he stops, thinks a little, "…South Korea, wasn't it?"

Yao nods a little. He is all ears.

"They always say…" Andrew continues, "…that they found me in the middle of the destroyed city. I was alone there, everybody else had run away or… died…" there is a pause, then: "They searched for my parents but no one came to pick me up..."

"So they took you in America?" Yao asks. His heart is beating madly inside his chest. Andrew notices but he doesn't say anything. Andrew nods and then says:

"Maybe that is why I never felt at home here…" then he looks at Yao, "I feel like I found a piece of me when I met you…"

"Ridiculous, aru…" Yao says and closes his eyes.

"But then…" Andrew suddenly is talking again and Yao opens his eyes once more. "… then why I feel like you hate me?"

Yao turns abruptly at Andrew, who is not looking at him. Yao notices that Andrew is smiling, despite the sad look on his face, and Yao wants to disappear, just like that.

"Everytime I see you…" Andrew says, "I feel so good but… it's like you don't want me here… it's like you hate me… it's like…"

"I don't hate you…" Yao suddenly says. He notices his voice is shaking and he stands up in a sitting position, purposely avoiding looking at Andrew straight in the eyes. Yao knows he is going to cry, an emotion he had to feel since forever, and then continues: "I never did hate you…"

Yao doesn't know to who is talking to and suddenly realizes that all this time he had been confusing Andrew with Yong Soo and that maybe America was right for once.

Yao should leave.

"Why are you crying?" Andrew says and stands up too. Yao looks away but Andrew takes his face in his hands and makes Yao look at him. Andrew is determined not to let Yao go, hide from him, and he brushes back some raven hair, away from Yao's face.

Then he leans down.

And kisses him. Yao lets him for a moment, kisses back, then he puts a hand on the other's chest and pushes him away.

"Tomorrow I'm leaving for China…" Yao says. Andrew is still looking him with half-lidded eyes. Yao feels the other's man's taste on his lips and his decision is breaking his heart.

"Why you keep pushing me away?" Andrew says. Yao looks up.

"We know each other for just some days, aru…"

"It feels longer…" Andrew suddenly says. Yao shakes his head and repeats:

"Tomorrow I'm leaving. It's been a pleasure to meet you…"

Yao is so formal that it hurts him. Andrew doesn't say anything and the silence is hurting him more.

"You always do that…" Andrew says, suddenly confused, "Every time I try to show what I feel, you walk away…"

"I'm not…" Yao starts and then stops when Andrew looks back at him.

"Why you keep leaving me?"

Yao bits his lips, stands up and walks away. His heart is aching but America is right and Yao is confused.

"Don't leave me again, _daze_!"

Yao stops in his tracks and slowly turns to look at Andrew, who had in the meantime stood up too and is looking at Yao and at the same time he is not looking at anything. Yao feels a sense of déjà vu and then he asks:

"What did you say?" it's a whisper and when suddenly Andrew runs to him and hugs him tightly he repeats: "What did you say?", his voice muffled inside Andrew's shirt.

"I don't know…" Andrew says. "…I am so confused…".

Yao starts shaking and then notices that Andrew is shaking too.

Later that night, Yao takes the radio and hides in the bathroom, so as not to wake up Andrew still sleeping in his bed.

Ex-South Korea is at war.


	5. Chapter 5

It's a strange feeling: to be in pain and to feel powerful at the same time.

A moment Andrew's body aches all over, the next he feels he can move the mountains. It takes him hours to accustom to all those voices inside his head. Andrew feels he is going to go mad or maybe he already is and the voices are the proof of his unstable mind.

At first he doesn't understand the language the voices are speaking, it's familiar, and the fact it's scary. They are screaming, begging, laughing, cheering. When Andrew finally recognizes each voice, he can give each of them a name. It's not long before he can list all the humans talking in his head and soon he even manages to stop listening to them at will.

Suddenly his shoulder hurts and he bits down a curse. The pain makes me aware of his surroundings and slowly he is able to hear the radio that Yao is listening to in the other room.

"Last moment news!" it said, "Just a moment ago there had been an attack…"

Andrew listens and suddenly he realizes he can't hear three of the voices in his head anymore. He thinks he is crazy for even thinking it but he is sure the attack and his pain are connected in a weird way.

As soon as the thought crosses his mind, a memory resurfaces.

It's Yao's face.

But it's not the Yao he met days before in the park. This Yao is young, without pain in the eyes, and he is staring at him, smiling and extending his hand at him. Andrew reaches that hand in his memory and he is surprised to see that his own is so much smaller.

"Yong Soo…" Yao is saying and Andrew blinks his eyes open.

Yong Soo.

"Yong Soo…" Andrew repeats. A soft whisper.

He still doesn't know what to do about it though, and he stays immobile there, watching the first rays of the sun enter the hotel room from the window. A moment later the radio is switched off and slowly the bathroom's door opens and Andrew listens to Yao's steps as the other makes his way back into the bed.

He feels the bed creak and Andrew suddenly reaches out and abruptly pulls Yao back against him. Yao lets out a startled noise and Andrew would like to laugh but his head is still spinning around with memories, voices and he doesn't know what else. He is too confused to laugh.

"Did I wake you, aru?" Yao asks then and makes himself comfortable in Andrew's embrace. Andrew looks down at Yao, imagines the tattoo Yao has on his back and realizes he has already seen it once, long before, but not in the same situation they were now.

"Yong Soo…" he repeats inside his head.

Andrew hugs Yao closer, afraid that if he doesn't Yao will leave his side forever. This is what Yao has in mind and they both know. As if on cue Yao continues talking: "My flight leaves in three hours, Andrew", a moment of silence, a sigh, and "Don't be angry at me, aru…"

Andrew thinks for a moment. He doesn't like Yao calling him by that name. It feels strange. His brows furrows as he thinks:

"I never was angry at you…" Andrew slowly says. He closes his eyes, tries to remember, then he says: "Not even when…" he stops, gulps, "Not even when you always told me you'll come visit me but never did… or…"

It hurts saying these things but those are the things that Andrew has in mind. He wonders how long has it been since he last wanted to say them.

Andrew feels Yao's breath hitch and his body still.

"Or…" Andrew continues, at least, he tries, but his new life and his past life are battling for dominance in his head and it hurts too much to even speak. "Or… when you pushed me away… or… when you preferred K-Kiku over me…"

At the sound of Japan's name Yao tries to sit up and look at Andrew in the eyes but the younger man is holding him too tightly and he can't move away.

"I was jealous…" Andrew continues. The fight in his mind is over. Everything starts to be clear in his head. He knows who he was now, who he is and who he will be. He knows now what Yong Soo means.

It's his name.

"At first I was really angry at you and…" Yong Soo chuckles, "…and I'm really sorry for ruining your photos…"

"Andrew what…" Yao tries to say but the name now feels foreign on his tongue. He is shaking all over, he is afraid that if he says something wrong, he will wake up and everything will disappear just like in a dream. "Yong Soo?" he whispers then. He is unsure, he is afraid, but the body beside him is warm and it's still there and it's _him_.

Because who else knew about those photos?

"Why aren't you angry now?" Yao suddenly asks. He doesn't know if he should be angry or sad, happy or afraid. In the end he thinks he is dreaming.

Yong Soo doesn't talk for a few moments then he turns his head and grins. Yao is amazed at the power of that grin. It feels too real. It feels good.

"I love you!" Yong Soo says. "And I guess I just waited for the moment you'll finally realize it too!"

Yong Soo suddenly feels his cheeks wet but he doesn't stop grinning. He is suddenly afraid Yao will stand up and walk away. Like he knew he always had. He is afraid Yao will laugh at him.

But Yao just stares at Yong Soo and when suddenly he reaches up to touch the other's cheek, Yong Soo thinks he is going to hurt him.

"You are an idiot…" Yao just says. "I am an idiot" he says then. "Will you forgive me?" Yao whispers and Yong Soo abruptly leans down and kisses him. It is enough for the moment.

: : : : :

Two hours and a half later Yao is waiting for the flight to China. Yong Soo is with him and holding his hand. Yao smiles down at their entwined fingers then he looks up at a thoughtful Yong Soo.

"Why don't you come home with me?" Yao asks in Korean. He's rusty but he still remembers the language enough. Yong Soo understands him and Yao once again is aware that this is not a dream.

"I need to do some things here first…" Yong Soo answers in his own language. He is surprised he can speak so fluently without practice and he smiles at himself for a moment before turning serious again. Yao bits his lips and nods.

"Yao…" Yong Soo says then, back in English. "My people are calling me".

Yao suddenly panics and tightens his hold of the other's hand.

"What if the Revolution doesn't…" he says but even if the words don't leave his mouth, Yong Soo understands. "Will you…" _disappear again? _

The question is silent but suddenly Yong Soo grins and points at somewhere on his head. Yao frowns, thinking that Yong Soo is making fun of him.

"It's growing up!" Yong Soo exclaims. Yao finally understands he is talking about the curl. "Soon enough we'll get Seoul again! And I'm strong, stronger than before now that you are finally with me!"

Yao doesn't know whether to smile at Yong Soo's words or scowl at him. In the end he does neither and just likes that he has his optimist Yong Soo back.

_His. _

Suddenly he feels Yong Soo's other hand on his shoulder and Yao looks at the other grinning nation.

"Will you wait for me?" Yong Soo asks.

"Yes, always…" Yao says in a whisper then he blushes and looks away: "It's only fair since you waited for me so much, too, aru…"

And suddenly the flight for China is announced and Yao has to stand up and walk away. He heart hurts and he looks back at Yong Soo waving at him.

It feels like they are not going to see each other again.

: : : :

As soon as China returns home, he has a lot of unfinished paperwork to do. He works day and night and he listens to the radio, wondering if they'll talk about a mad grinning man with raven hair and dark orbs fighting.

And losing.

Yao is afraid of that word.

In that manner, days pass.

They become months.

And then years.

Yong Soo seems to have disappeared again and Yao is afraid that he let him go another time.

: : : :

There are no news for a while. The television and the radio keep reporting all the happenings, all the attacks, all the deaths, everything. But still no sight of Yong Soo.

Yao loses and regains hope so many times he is starting to feel ridiculous.

And then, one day of March, something happens.

"The Government signed!"

Everything slowly calms down.

Japan calls him.

"You should watch the news…"

America calls him.

Russia.

Germany.

Yao switches on the television and he sees people cheering while the South Korea's flag is waving up in the sky. He thinks he sees a man with a weird curl in the middle of the crowd, laughing and giving the thumbs up to the camera.

It was in that moment that there is someone knocking the door of his little apartment. He knows who it is. Yao stands up. Opens the door. And let's Yong Soo inside, let him shower him in kisses and pulls him inside to hear all about what happened to him.

They have more than twenty years to make up for, after all.

_The end_

**A.N. I want to thank those who liked this story and reviewed it! :D I know it's short and I know it's a plot many already used. I wanted to try it anyway, I hope you liked the result and that I didn't disappoint anyone! Sorry for the grammatical and lexical mistakes. The fandom needs more ChinaxKorea and I wish to read more good stories about these two! XD **


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